What Does My Tire Tread Pattern Mean?

October 10, 2022

Mechanic in work clothes inspecting a car's black tire with silver rim. | Rocky Mountain Car Care

The tires on your car are its foundation. How the car handles, the comfort and safety of the ride, all depends on the tire's tread pattern. To ensure correct maintenance, it is imperative the tire pressure is correct when inflating them. In addition, the wheels should be properly aligned, and the air level balance verified correctly.


What Tire Wear Says About Your Tires

How your tires wear says a lot about any issues facing your tires, or specifically speaking, your car. You need to inspect your tires regularly to check how the tires are wearing. If the wear is on the edges, outer, or center of the tire, it means something different.

It is important you understand why your car's tire tread wears a certain way. Therefore, we have put together a guide to help you recognize various tread patterns and what causes them to form.


Inside Tread

A tire professional will normally refer to tire wear on the inside tread as "toe wear". When this happens, it means your wheel alignment has issues. If you find it difficult to keep your car driving straight, your alignment is off.


Outside Tread

If the outside edges of your tires are showing increased wear it means your wheels are under inflated. Premature tire wear is the result of edgewear. Make sure you check the air pressure in your tires routinely and inflate tires accordingly.


Middle Tread

A result of over-inflated wheels is tire tread that wears in the middle. It is extremely discouraged to put too much air in the tires, the inevitable makes the tires wear out more rapidly. If you think you have over-inflated your tires, use a tire gauge to verify the tire pressure. The inside door frame on the driver's side has the correct air pressure numbers you should fill tires to.


What Can Happen with Low Tire Tread?

Tire tread that gets too low, makes your tires prone to a puncture or sudden blowout. It can even affect the fuel usage of your car when the tires are worn. In addition to making it difficult to steer, brake and control the vehicle. If you find the treads are worn and need some new tires, bring your car or truck into our repair shop today!

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